FHS junior killed in crash caused by record-setting rains

By Staff
Staff Report, Hartselle Enquirer
Record-setting rains soaked Morgan County and Hartselle last week and are blamed for a fatal accident involving a Falkville High School student.
Jeffrey Scott Garrison, 17, was killed in a single vehicle accident Feb. 5 on Morgan County 55 just west of Falkville. State troopers said Garrison apparently lost control of his car in a curve on the rain-slicked road, went down an embankment and struck a tree. Troopers reported Garrison was not wearing a seatbelt.
He was pronounced dead at Hartselle Medical Center. Garrison, son of Billy and Veronica Garrison of Falkville, was a junior at Falkville High School and worked at the McDonald's location in Hartselle.
The accident occurred on a day when the National Weather Service office in Huntsville said the county saw record amounts of rain, causing flooding in low-lying areas. Several roads throughout the county were impassable because of high water and schools in neighboring Lawrence County were closed.
According to the National Weather Service, in the 24-hour period of Feb. 5, Decatur received 5 1/2 inches of rainfall and the Morgan County area received 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches total.
"Morgan County saw that amount in one day," NWS Meteorologist Priscilla Bridenstein said. "Although heavy rainfall is not unusual in North Alabama for February, this was an extremely unusual event."
The February average is 4.95 inches.